AmeriSuites Earns Buyer Accolades In Midprice W/O F&B
<B>AmeriSuites Earns Buyer Accolades In Midprice W/O F&B</B>
By Bruce Serlen
After posting significant annual increases in both supply and demand growth of more than 10 percent in 1999 and 2000, the rate of growth for midprice hotels that don't offer food and beverage services is expected to cool considerably in 2001 and 2002. "Yet, the forecast is still healthy compared with the growth rates expected for many of the other lodging sectors, including, for example, midprice hotels with food and beverage," said Bjorn Hanson, global industry leader for the hospitality and leisure practice at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, which released the statistics.
The supply and demand growth rates also remain more or less in balance, which is positive news. The projected rate of demand growth for midprice hotels without food and beverage in 2001, for example, is 5.4 percent compared with the rate of supply growth of 4.8 percent. And in 2002, the rate of demand growth is 6.3 percent, while the rate of supply growth is anticipated to be 6.1 percent.
With this optimistic picture as a backdrop, it's no surprise that the three chains that placed at the top of the midprice without food and beverage segment of the 2001 Top U.S. Hotel Chain Survey have aggressive growth plans in store for the future. For the three chains, AmeriSuites, Hampton, which includes Hampton Inn & Hampton Inn & Suites, and Country Inns & Suites by Carlson, this year's survey results also represent a repeat performance: The three placed in the top three spots in last year's ranking as well, though in a different order.
In the respondents' estimation this year, AmeriSuites, which is a unit of Prime Hospitality, placed first in four of 10 areas, including: the properties' overall price-value relationship, the chain's helpful and courteous staff and the quality of both its business centers and in-room business amenities. For its part, Hampton, which is a unit of Hilton Hotels Corp., placed first in physical appearance. And Country Inns & Suites this year was cited for its corporate rate programs.
"With last year's conversion of the 27 former Sumner Suites properties, we had 134 AmeriSuites in the system by year-end," said AmeriSuites vice president of sales and marketing Ernie Taddei. "An additional dozen are now in the pipeline and scheduled to open in 2001, including properties in such popular business travel destinations as San Jose and San Mateo, Calif., and Nashville, Tenn."
Given the profusion of brands at this price point, visibility is critical. "In such markets as Dallas/Las Colinas and Charlotte, N.C., we actually have two properties within a mile of each other, which is good because it helps to create name recognition. The more we can put the sign up, the better," AmeriSuites' Taddei said. "Since the properties have basically the same amenities, it also allows us to market the two to corporate buyers as one, 256 rooms versus 128 rooms."
At Hampton, a new prototype for Hampton Inn & Suites that featured a studio suite room configuration for the first time was introduced in mid-2000. "As we suspected, the additional space has proven very appealing, considering business travelers' interest today in working in the room," said Phil Cordell, senior vice president for Hampton brand management. Overall, Hampton grew 8 percent to 10 percent in 2000 and ended the year with 1,073 hotels. Hampton Inn & Suites expects to build its first prototype in Dallas.
Essentially a suburban and/or highway type of property, Hampton has some limited developments in urban areas, but tight availability for business travelers in many downtown markets in 2000, especially midweek, created an opportunity for the brand. "We saw many travelers saying, 'Okay, I'll stay in the suburbs and commute into the city for my business appointments,' " Cordell said. "This way, they can save money and availability is less of an issue."
As these chains grew in 2000, providing a consistent experience for travelers across the brand becomes more of a challenge. "You want the business traveler staying at any of your properties across the country to have essentially the same quality of experience," said Paul Kirwin, president of Country Inns & Suites. "At the same time, you recognize that some properties in the system cater more to business travelers, while others are more oriented to the leisure market, so this consistency can be hard to achieve."
Country Inns & Suites added 50 properties in 2000 for a total of 250, with growth especially pronounced in Southern California, Texas and the Ohio Valley. Fifty more are scheduled to open in 2001, with the Northeast and Northwest seeing a lot of development.
As with Hampton, Country Inns & Suites has the advantage of being part of a large, multi-brand company.
"As a result, we've become more interesting to the Fortune 100, which tend to have aggressive managed travel policies," Kirwin said. "These accounts will want us in their annual bid because they're looking to include different product positions as part of their hotel programs."
The choice of actual brand likely will depend on location, regardless of price point. "One of these Fortune 100 companies, for example, might have a manufacturing plant in a location that couldn't support a full-service Radisson, which is another Carlson brand, but could support a midprice Country Inns & Suites," Kirwin said. "In that case, the travel manager likely would work on the national accounts level, but the actual rate negotiation would occur at the local property level.